Odyssey
by Raiza Sunozaki
Summary: In the endgame of the Hinamizawa gameboard, two girls born from memories meet. One who must learn to live freely, alone, and another who thinks her certainty is all the strength she needs. They are fledgling witches, Frederica Bernkastel and Lambdadelta.
1. Chapter 0

Author Note/Copyright Stuff to Save my Ass: In no way whatsoever do I own any of the creative concepts that Ryuukishi07 of the 07th_Expansion has created. If I did, someone would've solved Umineko a long time ago. So it's good that don't.

Introduction: There's Nothing More Beautiful Than a Flower Bloomed in Hell

It was like the very fabric of my life was being ripped apart. There was a dull roaring noise as my conscious was ripped from its home, and thrown into a different world, followed by the feeling of a heavy burden, as I shouldered all by myself, one hundred years of pain. But it's all right, I can handle this, I can bear this, all of this, for her sake, for her happiness.

The pain was excruciating, as I re-experienced every second of those painful hundred years over the span of a couple minutes. Every scene of realizing-or worse, seeing my friends' deaths, melting into the pain of my own, over and over, I saw it, felt it. It seemed like my heart would shatter. I must have screamed out her name countless times, begging for help. But she could no longer comfort me.

Finally, with the sounds of the gunshots still ringing in my ears, and the feeling of the knife cutting into my body still lingering on my skin, the memories finally calmed down and faded into the recesses of my mind. And in this relief of pain, I became aware of something that terrified me: a creeping feeling, the absence of a connection. No longer could I feel her worries, her determination for happiness, her being beside me.

"Rika, are you there? Rika?" I called out for her, but as expected, there was no answer. In this darkness, I was completely alone.

"Rika, answer me, please. Rika!" I couldn't control myself though. Alone, there was no one I could share my pain with, no one who could comfort me.

And I hated it.

"Please, answer me! I don't want to be alone, I don't want this!" Then why did I choose to do this?

That's right, I had chosen to give her happiness, to relieve herself of her of the burden she had carried, at the expense of my happiness. Even Hanyuu had said it, hadn't she? I would probably hurt badly by this choice. But still I decided to do it. But still...

"Rika, Hanyuu, anybody, answer me! Satoko, Keiichi, where are all of you?" My voice grew choked with tears. "I don't want to be alone..."

"My my, this is the opponent I lost to? I'm almost disgusted to have lost to such a pitiful person."

I looked up, trying to locate the mocking voice. Sitting in the air a few metres in front of me, was a girl, close to the same size as me, with shoulder-length blond hair, wearing a magenta dress similar to the pale-green one I was wearing.

The girl giggled. "The might Frederica Bernkastel, brought to her knees in front of me. This almost makes up for losing to you."

Her annoying taunts gave me the strength to stand up, if only to spurn her. "What do you mean, 'lost to'?"

Her mocking smile was replaced with an expression of honest surprise.

"What, you mean you didn't realize?"

"Realize what?"

"Really? Oh my dear Frederica Bernkastel, you truly are oblivious. Ah, but it makes me love you even more."

She mocks me and insults me, and then says she loves me? How insane is this girl?

"Stop dodging the question. What are you talking about?"

"Why the rush? We've got all the time in the world, you and me, so let's enjoy ourselves." I continued to glare at her. She met my glare with her mocking smile for a while, before sighing and shrugging her shoulders. "You really are no fun, Frederica Bernkastel. I'd expect another Player to at least try and enjoy herself in the after-game."

"All this toying around, it's like teasing me is a game to you." Wait, a game? It couldn't be...

The girl giggled. "Had an epiphany, have we? I'm surprised you didn't notice. It's never been just a game for me. It's our game. Well technically, our game is over, but that doesn't mean we're finished as competitors."

"You mean, this whole time... all those murders... the deaths of my friends... was a game?" My mind started to spin as the pieces clicked together.

"Ding ding ding! Seems like you're finally getting it. Though it was less of a game between us, and more of a game of you against me. But a game nonetheless."

"Ri..c...s."

"Huh?"

"Ridiculous. Ridiculous! Don't screw with me! There's no way that was a game. That was hell! Torture! In what way can it even come close to resembling a game?"

"Simple. It was a challenge, where you had to escape this hellish reality I had made for you. Year after year, month after month, week after week, you struggled against my brilliant riddle, only to fail each time, to experience the deaths of your friends each time. Finally, after a hundred years, you found the answer, and now you stand here, the victor."

That isn't a game." I looked down. "A game is where everyone has fun, where everyone tries their hardest to win, and win or lose, everyone leaves satisfied, with a smile on their face."

The girl burst out laughing. "How naive are you? I'd thought you'd be a little more cynical, after experiencing those hundred years. A game is a game, as long as the criteria of competition are fulfilled. Though if you're so caught up on people enjoying themselves while playing, I did enjoy myself quite a bit. It's not everyday you get to exterminate an entire village. Well, for the past hundred years, I guess it was."

"You... you're just like Takano, enjoying the chaos and death you cause."

"Well of course I'm like her. I was born from her, just like you were born from Rika. We're both the children of a hundred years of memories. So I guess we're like sisters, onee-chan."

"How can you be so cheerful, so mocking? If you are like me, born from a hundred years of memories, why can't you understand my pain?"

"Oh I understand it. You're not the only one whose past is dotted with unpleasant memories. But I've decided to leave those memories behind me. They might've given birth to me, but they're not mine. So I just make no effort to sympathize with you, who's chosen to carry those memories around with you. Those miserable memories are nothing more than a lead weight, you know."

"How can you be so heartless?"

The girl giggled. "Heartless? What do I need with a heart? As children of memories, are we even alive to begin with? I'm just doing whatever entertains me, be it killing off an entire village over and over again, or tormenting a poor girl who has given up everything she gained from suffering a hundred years of torture."

"How can you enjoy being so sick and twisted? How are able to live with yourself?"

The girl laughed even harder this time. "Like I said, are we even alive to begin with? And 'sick' and 'twisted,' those are only adjectives used to describe someone with an absence of morality."

"So?"

"So, why should I care then? Morality is a human concept, all this worrying about right or wrong is purely a human's conscience at work. If we aren't human, then why should we worry about it? The spider doesn't consider whether it's right or wrong to kill the fly that has become trapped in its web. It just kills it, so that there is food, so that the spider can survive."

"You're insane."

"Once again, a human concept. Though to humans, the world is an insane place, so I guess I fit right in." The girl giggled again. "My point is, to us, who are not human, what use are human concepts such a morality? It's much more fun to do as we please."

"And not care about the consequences?"

"Exactly." She suddenly pushed herself out of her invisible seat and fell several metres, until she was level with me.

"For example, this after-game party is starting to bore me, and I don't want to stick around to see what happens to disposed memories. I think I'll travel to a different kakera, and see what trouble I can stir up. Want to come along?"

"Why would I want to go anywhere with you?"

"Because, being alone is your greatest fear, my dear Frederica Bernkastel. When I first arrived here, you were begging for someone to respond to you. To you, who was born and lived connected to another person, being alone is something worse than death."

I couldn't respond. She was right; those first moments where I had realized for the first time in my entire existence that I was completely alone had been more painful than any of the times I had died.

Then the girl walked over to me, and wrapped her arms around me and held me tight, as if she wanted to comfort me. Even though I wanted to push her away or slap her for being so cruel, I couldn't bring myself to. No matter how sick and twisted this girl was, she was holding me warmly, and I was able to remember what it felt like to be connected to someone once more.

The girl rested her head on my shoulder, and in a kind, loving tone, completely different from the way she had mocked me earlier, whispered into my ear.

"Come with me, my beloved. As long as you are near me, I will never let you feel unloved and alone. I want nothing in return, not even your own love in return. Just let me love you. Oh, I love you so, so much, my beloved. All you need to do is let me love you."

Finally, I was able to gather my senses and push her away.

"You're right. Being alone is terrifying for me, so if only to save myself from that terror, I'll accompany you. But," I looked her straight in the eyes, "I still hate you for the terrible person you are. So I refuse to accept your love."

The girl shrugged. "That's fine, if it suits you. Besides, now our story has the beautiful bittersweet taste of unrequited love. Isn't that romantic?" She giggled again. "Well, let's be on our way then. To strange and amazing new worlds!"

With that, the girl did a pirouette on the spot, and began walking away. But after a moment, when she realized I wasn't following her, she turned around to look at me."

What's wrong? Didn't you say you were coming?"

"I did, but..." To think, I had to ask this person, of all people, for assistance. How humiliating!

"Ah..." She seemed to have understood the problem however. "That's right; you never travelled between kakera without that girl's assistance, did you?"

I dodged her amused stare. The girl laughed, and then walked over to me.

"Would you like for me to show you the way?

I hesitated, as my pride battled with my common sense.

"Come one, Frederica Bernkastel, abandon all those silly things that make you think you are human. Accept that you are different, and accept my help."

I may be different, but I'm not like you. Those words repeated in my head as I took her hand. It was warm, filled with her passion and determination. She seemed like the kind of person who was always certain; always confident in whichever path she took. Even though she was a cruel person, who seemed to enjoy nothing more than tormenting me and teasing me, then suddenly reversing and telling me how much she loved me, even though she was twisted enough to enjoy killing off hundreds of people, and then doing it again, even with all this, it seemed like she would make an interesting travelling companion.

And hand in hand, we disappeared into the darkness.

-Odyssey 0 Concluded-

Post-Chapter Note: Well, here I am, at the start of another fanfic. I'm really bad at finishing non-one shots. Still, these two have fasinated me now for a time, so I'll probably get pretty far with them. Heck, maybe even finish this! I hope... If you liked this, the next chapter's rough is finished; all that needs to be done is transfer the written to typed and voila! Chapter one will be up.

In case anyone is asking, yes, I do think Lambda is a crazy inhuman character, who cares for nothing and loves Bern at the same time. And I love her for it.

If you liked this, please drop a review! If you didn't, drop one anyway. Tell me what I could do better.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Light at the End of the Tunnel is Only a Demon Waving a Light for You

"Hmm... Frefre...Fredi... no, Deri? No, no... Erica? Not at all."

"All right, I'll bite. What are you doing?"

"Oh, sorry my dear Frederica Bernkastel. I was just trying to put together a cute nickname for you."

"A nickname? I don't want something like that."

"Well I want to give you one. Calling you 'my dear Frederica Bernkastel' is much too long to use all the time. Frederica is also too much of a mouthful, so I'm trying to shorten it, but there doesn't seem to be any good nicknames aside from Rika."

"Just use that one then."

"No, no, you have to be original when making a nickname! We can't just use that girl's name. Hmm... but there really is no better nickname for Frederica... Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "I've got it! Bernkastel!"

"Eh? How is that a nickname? You're just using the second half of my name."

"Ah, you're right... it seems you're also putting some serious thought into your nickname." Not at all; I'd just rather you do something properly instead of just sticking with whatever suits you best.

"Hmm... Teru-chan?"

"Do you always jump to the end of the name first?"

"No good? What about Sute?

"Is that even a name in any sense?"

"Anything's a name in some sense. Kasu-kun?

"What, am I a boy now?"

"I wish. Runrun?"

"Now I'm a dog!"

"Even better..."

"Sick and twisted girl."

The girl wagged her finger. "Human concepts, Runrun. Still no good?" I shook my head. "Fine. How about Bern?" At my silence, she smirked. "Oh, no witty comment this time? Does this mean we have a pass, Bern?"

"Just don't be so familiar with me."

"But Bern-chan is still too much of a mouthful for me, and I don't think you'd like me calling you Bern-kun too much."

"I was thinking something more along the lines of Bern-san."

"Eh? I don't want to have to use an honorific that places me that distant to you." She snuggled up against me. "I want to show the world how much I love you, that I want nothing more than your everything." She came even closer, putting her mouth right beside my ear.

"Is that so bad?" She whispered.

I pushed her away. "Ahgh, fine! Do as you please! Just stop bothering me with trivial things."

The girl giggled. "Whatever you say, Bern."

"Speaking of which though..."

"Speaking... of what?"

"What should I call you? Do you have a name, or have you been too occupied with mine to give yourself one?"

"Don't be so silly, my beloved Bern. Oh, I like the sound of that." Giggling, she took a few steps forward, spun around and curtsied. "It's a pleasure to introduce myself. I am Lambdadelta, your ex-opponent of the Hinamizawa game board." She giggled again. "How was that? I spent quite some time thinking that up.

"I kept walking past her. "Lambdadelta, eh? I thought you said nicknames should be original."

"Ah, but see here, this isn't a nickname. It's a proper name, the one I'll stick with from here on to infinity. If you want a nickname to call me by, you can call me Lambda-chan."

"I'll do that, Lambda."

The problem with the sea of kakera is that distances can be a bit... irregular. Sometimes, it's only a step away to a new kakera, at other times it's a long trek.

"But this is ridiculous... I've never had to travel this long to find a new kakera."

"Don't worry too much about it, Bern. Such a journey ought to have entertaining rewards." Frowning, she looked off into the deep, empty black space. "But yeah, it is strange there's such an absence of kakera. It's almost as if someone doesn't want us to escape from our end...game par...ty..." Her voice trailed off as her normally cheerful face paled and she spun around on the spot.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me."

As I was turning around with her, I caught something shadowy moving from the corner of my eye. Following it, I quickly lost it in the blackness of space, only to catch a glimpse of another one moving in the opposite direction. As I kept watching the moving shadows, I became aware that there were a large number of them, and that they were circling us, closing in closer and closer.

"Lambda, we're surrounded."

"Yeah, I know." She grimaced. "Damn... I didn't expect them to catch up to us this quickly."

"Please, Takano-san, don't underestimate the power and skill of the Yamainu." One of the shadows came forward, only it wasn't a shadow, but a wolf, as black as night. It sat down lazily, almost relaxed, a wolfy grin on its face."

"Okonogi..." Lambda smirked. "Well, you know what they say. A dog in life, a dog in death."

The wolf laughed a deep and throaty laugh. "I'll take that as a compliment, Takano-san."

"I'm not Takano, Okonogi. I left that foolish woman behind. My name is Lambdadelta.

"Hmm, Lambdadelta? I don't see how it's much of a difference." Yawning, the wolf stood up. "Regardless, you should know why I'm here. So please come quietly. I don't want to put too much effort into this."

"Heh, sorry Okonogi. Or should I call you Oko-chan, now that you're just a rulekeeper's pet?" The wolf's ears pricked at the insult. "But I have no intention of just giving up. Not now, when I've so close to freedom."

"Indignant as ever." The wolf turned to look at me. "What about you, Frederica-sama? You are a reasonable person. Why are you running alongside this person who has caused you so much trouble? Be the reasonable person you are and come back with us."

Before I could ask the wolf what it was talking about, Lambda grabbed my hand and stepped between me and him.

"Hey, you miserable mutt, Bern is mine. Don't you dare try to steal her from me."

Despite Lambda's furious outburst, the wolf only laughed.

"Possessive, are we? So, there is no way that you will come quietly?" Lambda continued to glare at him. "No? Well that is a pity, I suppose." Slowly, the wolf changed from its lounging stance to one ready to pounce. All around Lambda and I, the air grew tense as the pack of wolves prepared to attack.

"Lambda..."

"Don't worry Bern, we'll be fine." I was surprised by her confidence. On her face, instead of an expression of worry to match mine, Lambda was grinning. Her words, her expression, everything about her carried an air of confidence, of certainty. It's like... she's not afraid of anything.

Her grip on my hand tightened as my confidence grew. "Sorry though, it seems like we're going to need to jump.

"Jump? What do you mean by-" Lambda took a step back, then hurled herself forward, dragging me along with her. At the same moment, Okonogi leaped forward as well, fangs bared. I expected the two of them to collide, so I braced myself for impact. But at the last moment, Lambda was shifted to the side by some unseen force, allowing us to dodge the wolf. As she passed the wolf, she leaned over and whispered something in its ear.

"Sorry Oko-chan, but it seems you have a bad habit of choosing the loosing side." Then we were past the wolves, rushing at impossibly fast speeds. It was hard to imagine all of that could've happened in less than a second. Finally recovering from the jolt, I looked up at Lambda again. She was still grinning, but this time it gleamed, a brilliant smile from ear to ear. Her eyes were wide with excitement and anticipation, like a child before a festival. Her energy was infectious, and I quickly found myself smiling as well. We'd escaped, hadn't we? I wasn't sure what we'd escaped from, but we'd stared danger in the face, and still escaped.

We were free.

Wait, free from what? I couldn't put my finger on it, but it felt like some kind of chain had been broken, and I was no longer bound to anything. I wonder... if this was what she had been trying to do all along. That girl. Does she have to do things her own way, by herself? Having other people help you from time to time isn't so bad, you know.

The world around us began to spin slower and slower as our leap came to a finish. Streaks of light slowly appeared around us, which became lights as we came to a stop. Exhausted from the leap, both Lambda and I collapsed, floating in empty space.

"Damn it... Lambda..." I managed to get out between gasps for breath. "Give me... a warning next time... you plan to do something like that."

"Sorry Bern..." Lambda was panting heavily as well. "Sort of made... that plan up on the spot."

I rolled over. "What were those wolves doing, chasing after us?"

"Probably acting on order to retrieve us. I guess we're valuable runaway property of someone. Someone who wants us back."

"I recognized those two names. Yamainu and Okonogi. Wasn't that the name of your secret army and their commander from Hinamizawa?"

"Takano's army, my pieces. I threw them aside when I lost though. I guess someone came along and exchanged them their existence for freedom."

"This somebody, it's the rulekeeper you mentioned, right?" She nodded. "Who's that?"

"Who knows? Some greater power who was watching over our game, I suppose. They're the person who kicked me out after I lost, and if my suspicions are correct, the person who created the miracle that allowed Rika to meet Hanyuu, which in turn created you."

"So... the person who begun and ended that game."

"Right. A proper Game Master, if I ever heard of one."

The two of us were quiet for a while. Finally, I spoke up again.

"Lambda... you knew this person was going to pursue us, right?"

"That's right. Though I didn't expect them to catch up so quickly, or to send Oko-chan and his Yamainu after us."

"Then why did you wait to jump out of there? If you could've jumped at any time, why wait until they had caught up to us."

"I'm not even sure if I could've jumped before then though. I told you, didn't I? I made that plan up on the spot. Still, even if I could've jumped beforehand, I still think I would've waited."

"Why?"

Lambda held up two fingers. "Two reasons. One: in case this person wasn't as clever as I thought they were, lure them out, where I get to make them pay for all the hell and trouble they've caused you and me. In case that didn't work, two: confront whoever they sent out to retrieve us, and," she clenched her fingers into a fist and grinned, "have them fail their mission and crawl back to their master with their defeat hanging over their heads."

I see, she had given this some thought. And she had been taking such a risk not only for herself, but to get revenge for my sake as well... But hey... isn't that second reason just you being your normal misery-causing self?

"I told you, didn't I? I'll do what I want, as long as it entertains me." Stretching, she stood up. "Well, we've relaxed enough. Wouldn't want to make it easy for Oko-chan and his Yamainu to catch up to us again, now would we?"

"But where will we go? It's not like we have a kakera to hide ourselves in."

Lambda giggled. "Are you really so oblivious, Bern? Weren't you paying attention when we arrived here? Look around."

I stood up to get a better view. I think I did notice it when we arrived, but I was too busy being exhausted to pay it any attention.

"Beautiful," was all I could say. Surrounding us in all directions, countless lights sparked in intricate constellations around us, both near and far. But from the closer ones, I could see they weren't lights, but rather small crystals... kakera. They all shimmered with a different colour, and in the far-off distance, where the individual kakera were too small to see and instead looked like mist; the kakera of different colours gave off a rainbow-like glow. Closer, I could see they were all moving, staging beautiful dances as they made their procession through this unending space. This... this was a sea of kakera.

The surreal world around me had silenced me and paralyzed my body with awe, but Lambda was already hard at work sifting through nearby kakera. After several minutes she returned, carrying a kakera of a purplish glow. She held it out to me like a child might present a prized bug.

"I like this one," she said simply, as I took it from her. It was warm, and I could practically feel the living force of the innumerable living beings in it. In my mind, millions of little voices erupted in chorus, all trying to be a little louder than the one beside it, all joining together in a beautiful chaotic symphony of life. I listened as long as I could, before the power of all their spirits began to overwhelm me.

"So, any reason why? You don't even know what kind of world's in it, do you?"

"Neither did you when Hanyuu led you around, lunging into random kakera." Laughing, she took it back from me. "Sometimes you've got to just jump forward, without looking back or checking your step. Worrying should be left to those who have something to worry about."

"And you're saying we have nothing to worry about?"

"Absolutely; in fact, I'm certain of it." She held out her hand. "So dare to do something, Bern. Be a little reckless. I'll be here to comfort you at every turn."

Smiling, I took her hand. "Can you try saying it without sounding like you want something else from me?"

Matching my smile, she lent down and kissed my hand. "But I do want this 'something else' you speak of." She sighed. "But, if you insist. Would you care to join me on an engaging journey of reckless abandonment to chance and fate?"

"That, I can agree to." The two of us placed our hands on the kakera as its purple glow began to spread to cover us. The last thing I saw was Lambda's mischievous smile, floating eerily in the glow.

-Odyssey 1 End-

Author's Note: Well, this took a lot longer to get out than I thought it would. Blame exams. They kinda froze up all my non-school-based activities for two weeks. By the way, just in the rare case where someone doesn't understand the whole idea behind "-kun" and "-chan" and etc., just mention it to me and I'll tell you how they work.

There was a lot of conversation in this chapter, which made it a pretty short one, despite being longer in written length than the previous. In case people haven't noticed, this is a fanfic which focuses little on most of the characters from Higurashi and Umineko, and is only really a fanfic because I'm using Frederica/Bernkastel, Lambdadelta, Oko-chan and a few other characters from the two universi. I'm also having a lot of fun with Lambda, so there might be a focus on her for the next while.

As of writing this, I've started the written for the next chapter, but I'm a bit stuck, so it might be a while still.

Until then, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you've got something to say, feel free to drop a review!


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Silent Cacophony of Nature is Something Beautiful

And we were falling. Clouds whipped by our bodies, the cold air bit at our skin with fast, sharp nips. Below us, the world opened up into a massive sea of green.

"Bern! Bern!" I could hear Lambda calling out my name. "Damn it Bern, fly!"

What's she talking about? It's not like I'm a bird or anything. That sort of thing is impossible for me. As my eyes began to tear up from the wind, I closed them.

"Bern! Don't give up because it sounds impossible! You can fly, I know it!" You say that, but what can I do? Don't ask things which are impossible for me for to accomplish.

Below us, the green world drew closer and closer, to the point where I could make out the trees which poked up above the rest of the forest. Fly? Don't be ridiculous. Me being able to fly would be a miracle in this situation, wouldn't it? But that's the reason they call it a miracle. Because no matter how badly you want it to happen, it never will.

As I braced my body for impact, the second time in such a short period of time, I felt something I hadn't been expecting. Slowly, my body began to slow its fall. The wind bit at me less and less until I found myself falling no longer, but floating instead. Lambda drifted over to me, having already mastered flight herself, it seemed.

"See? It wasn't so difficult, was it?"

"But... things like this should be impossible."

She sighed. "I see you haven't quite grasped it yet. You're no longer normal, Bern. When you were attached to Rika; sure, you were a part of a normal human girl. But now that you're on your own, you're a little special. So you're capable of 'impossible' things like flight. You just need to believe."

"But I didn't believe I could. I still don't. While I was falling, I kept telling myself that it was impossible, that I was going to fall to my death."

"Hmm... that's strange. I guess you're still grounded too strongly to your human nature, Bern. Oh well, whatever the reason, you can fly now." Laughing and spinning in the air, Lambda flew a few metres in front of me. "So let's explore a bit!"

Tentatively, I tried to get my body to move. Trying to jump while standing on thin air, flapping my arms like I was a bird; everything I did made Lambda burst out laughing every time, but I still stayed where I was, hovering in mid-air.

"Geez Bern, it's like you're focusing less on learning to fly and more on hosting a comedy show."

I grimaced. "It's not like I want to act like an idiot. I just don't know how to get my body moving."

Lambda giggled. "I could give you a few pointers then, if you want." At my silence, she continued. "Close your eyes. Imagine a clear cloudless sky, open endlessly in front of you. Now imagine yourself as a bird. You are flying, not by flapping your wings, but by gliding on the air below you, moving forward into that infinite sky."

I closed my eyes and did as she told me to. A bird, eh? I've never been a large fan of birds. I'm more of a cat person after all. But still... in my mind, I pictured an endless sky, the ground so far below it became invisible. A cloudless sky of pure blue. From below me, I felt the warm air off some unseen land pushing my body higher into the air. This... this must be what Lambda had been talking about. Tilting my imaginary wings, I began gliding into that infinite sky.

"Bern, you're doing it!"

My eyes shot open. Beneath me, I briefly saw the forest moving, around me, I briefly felt the air pulling at my hair and my dress. But as soon as I open after my eyes, all those brief feelings came to an end, and I was once again left floating in the air.

"That was perfect." Lambda said after she'd glided over to me. "I wasn't sure if you had gotten it at first, since you weren't moving at all. But then you floated upwards, and took off. It was beautiful." She smirked as dove down, doing a quick dive beneath me. "The view, that is." I turned bright-red and clutched the bottom of my dress, pulling it closer to my body, which only made Lambda laugh.

"So, think you've gotten the hang of flying yet?"

"Not yet. You can do it without closing your eyes, right?"

Insert line break

It took about another half-hour of failed attempts and embarrassing myself in front of Lambda, but I was finally able to fly decently with my eyes open, albeit a bit shakily. As Lambda and I soared over the sea of green below us, I marvelled at the abundance of life in the trees. Rising from the foliage was a symphony of nature; chirps, hoots, howls, buzzes and growls. Brushing against the tops of trees incited a flurry of birds that scattered in all directions. Amazed at the beauty of it all, I began to smile.

"Beginning to enjoy yourself, Bern?"

"This is incredible. Such an amazing place, so raw and natural."

Glad you came along with me now?" I had to nod. "I'm glad you are. Still, it's a pity there doesn't seem to be any humans here."

"Why humans?"

"Why? Because humans make everything more fun. They give in so easily to temptation, that even a single chunk of gold can turn noble men into greedy beasts. They call themselves civilized and cultured, then become snarling animals at the slightest provocation. They're so malleable and predictable, yet somehow surprise you at the last second." Lambda laughed a satisfied laugh. "Yes, humans make any game much more entertaining."

"You're only seeing the negative aspects of humans. True they can be corrupt and violent beings." To emphasize my point, I stared heavily at Lambda, but she only giggled and shrugged her shoulders. "But that's only one side of humanity, you know. There are people who can resist temptation, avoid giving in to their darker emotions, and act noble in the harshest of scenarios."

Lambda giggled that malicious and dark giggle of hers. "Do you really think so dearly of your beloved humans, Bern? Because I assure you, there is no human out there who has never given in to their darker self. Even Rika's dear friends, they were far from noble at points. Maebara Keiichi; didn't he beat several people to death on different occasions? Ryuugu Rena; she was a violent one, wasn't she? Carrying around that cleaver and chopping up people she thought were threatening her and her peaceful, happy days. And wasn't Hojou Satako, Rika's dear best friend, once accused of pushing her own parents to their deaths? Or was that just that silly old policeman's paranoia again?" Lambda laughed. "In any case though, Rika's friends hardly fit you idea of a noble hum-"

"Shut up!" I couldn't stand it anymore. My hands were clenched so tight, it would felt like I would tear the skin, and it was all I could manage to not lunge at Lambda, who was now staring at me with mild amusement.

"You don't think I haven't realized that? I was the one who watched over them for a hundred years, trying to save them, even though I failed every time. I watched them over and over again fall to their vices, watched them unable to do anything, as they killed each other and others over and over again." I could feel my eyes filling up with tears.

"I know, I know. They are far from noble people, I know that. But you know what? When I was about to give up and surrender, at the end of that hundred-year-hell, do you know who helped me get back up to try again? My friends. Despite being people who did horrible things in the past, they were able to improve themselves and become the good people I believed them to be."

"So? It doesn't change the fact that they don't fit the criteria of a noble human that you set out."

"But that doesn't mean that somewhere out there, there isn't a human being that possess these virtues."

"And I'm saying such a person does not exist. Give it up Bern."

"I'll prove you wrong."

"Oh ho?" Lambda smirked. "Is that a challenge?"

"You bet. I'll show you that there are noble people out there."

"Fine by me. But you know my beloved Bern, you always seem to choose the challenges which require you to do all the work."

"What do you mean?"

"Whenever there's a game between you and me, you always choose the side which has to do all the work. In Hinamizawa, you were the one who had to rewind those events over and over again, looking for the truth. And now you're the one who has to go around looking for your noble person, while all I have to do is tag along, making snide comments on how you're failing. You're a real glutton for punishment, you know."

Damn it, she always knows how to get under my skin. Not even giving her a response, I flew on ahead.

Insert Line Break

We'd been flying for another hour or so, looking down at the kakera we'd chosen. From what I could tell, this jungle-there was no better name for it-extended on to the edges of this world, as we hadn't even found the end of it after flying so long. There was no sign of civilization; no buildings, no farms, no signs of human existence. Lambda had been right; there were no humans in this kakera.

Which might account for my growing feeling of loneliness.

I once again, took account of the scenario I was in. I was stuck on a kakera devoid of humans and civilization, my only company being, aside from the birds and small animals which populated the trees below us, a girl who had convinced herself, and nearly me, that we were no longer bound to the same physics and morals which bound humans. Physics; I agreed with her completely. How else could I explain that not only had I survived a fall from high up in the atmosphere, that I had also gained the ability to fly? I could no deny that I possessed traits beyond human ability.

But I refused to give up my morals and conscience as easily as Lambda did... providing she had them to begin with. If anything, it was my respect for Rika which made me hold onto them. After all, she had survived a hundred years of hell, with no hope of success or reward for her struggles. But she had never given up believing in her friends, and she had put her faith in their better selves. And in the end, they had proven her faith in them was right, and helped her break free of her hell and attain happiness.

I guess it's rather ironic then, that those morals, the ones responsible for he success and subsequently, me voluntarily exiling myself, are the ones I find myself supporting so strongly today.

But I cannot waver. For the sake of my personal sanity, I pray I'm right. I'm playing a game here. One I cannot lose.

Insert Line Break

Lambda was calling me. I snapped out of my thoughts and muttered a reply.

"Geez Bern, did you fall asleep flying or something?"

"Next closest thing, in my opinion. What did you want?" Not bothering to be subtle about dodging the subject, I asked her quickly.

She seemed to briefly toy with the idea of pursuing what I had dodged, but her mischievous smile was replaced with a sigh.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to accompany me to see what's underneath the tree canopy."

"I thought the lack of humans in this kakera had killed all your interest here."

"It did, more or less. But I can't shake a strange feeling about this kakera. I sensed some strong feeling of life from it before we entered. Something I'm not familiar with."

"I doubt it was anything but a rush from the excitement from before. I didn't feel anything like that from it. All I felt was-"

"-was the overpowering sensation of a million souls struggling chaotically for survival?"

"Not... exactly. But sure."

Lambda shook her head. "Bern, Bern, Bern. You always get caught up in the little details, are always distracted by the simple things." She smirked. "And simple lives, apparently."

"What do you mean?"

"You got distracted by the feeling of all the little lives in this kakera. I couldn't care less about all the little noise, so I pushed through all that white noise until I found something extraordinarily interesting."

"Being?"

"Two things, actually. Firstly, if I called all the other little chatter from before white noise, then you have to realize that it would take something considerably louder than those minor creatures to interest me."

"And you found that?"

"Yep. I wasn't exactly paying full attention to the noise, I'll admit. But who actually pays attention to white noise? Aside from those idiots who believe there's an encrypted message from aliens on it. So there I was, only partially listening to the noise, when suddenly my head was invaded by a deafening sound, one that completely threw me off balance. It was like walking past a foghorn without noticing it, then proceeding to have it go off in your unsuspecting ear."

"A foghorn?"

"You bet. Even sounded like one. The same deep and hollow sound, with not a hint of intelligence in it. But oh, my dear Bern, was it strong. Still, hearing it once gave me the chance to be ready for the next one. One after another, they kept coming in a wave, rocking my head with their force. When it finally subsided, I was almost grateful to listen to the white noise again."

"And the second thing?"

"After that massive wave of foghorn blasts, I started listening to the white noise more attentively. I didn't want to get caught unaware by another wave of noise. And while listening to that white noise, I heard something else which caught my interest immediately. You know how when you're changing frequencies on a radio, you sometimes hear a faint song playing behind all the white noise? That's what I heard. I only heard a few seconds of it, but it was melancholic, so bluesy, so much more civilized than the garbage around it, that I was sure it was the song of humanity. Hey, what's with that face?"

"So... you decided to just jump into this kakera, with no idea of whether there are humans here or not, just because of a few seconds of a blues song?"

"Didn't I tell you earlier, Bern? Sometimes you just have to jump into things. Besides, it's not like I have any doubts. In fact, I'm certain there are humans here."

"But you said it yourself earlier. There don't seem to be any humans in this kakera."

"Please, my beloved Bern. Did you actually think I thought that?" Yes, actually, I did. "If I had, we'd have left this kakara a long time ago. Which brings me to what I was saying before: I want to check out what's below the tree canopy."

"Why?"

"Humans like living on solid ground. Even if their homes are shacks made from tree branches and giant leaves, they're going to be built on solid ground."

What do you know? She is capable of logical thought.

"Alright, I'll go with you." I gestured around me. "Doesn't seem like there's much else up here." Besides, I feel a lot more comfortable on the ground than flying.

"Wonderful!" Suddenly, she stopped flying, so quickly that when I realized she was no longer beside me, she was quite a distance behind me. But when I turned around to ask her why she'd stopped, she had already started flying again, faster than she ever had before. She caught up to where I was in seconds flat, grabbed my hand as she flew past, and laughing maniacally, dove into the canopy, dragging me along.

-Odyssey 2 End-

Author's Note: Well, this one took a while to get out. I got just up to where Bern mastered flying, then hit one hell of a massive writers' block. So the story sat in a stalled state for about three weeks, when I finally had an idea of where I want this to go, and so I got the rough draft written and the chapter typed up in a week. Yeah. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that writing long stories is very difficult when you don't plan them out before.

Actually, this chapter was supposed to go a bit further, and involve a bit of exploration beneath the canopy, but that would've extended the chapter from 2800 words to probably somewhere around 4000 words. And since I'm aiming for 2500-3000 words a chapter, that's a bit over the limit.

Since it's summer, and I don't have too much to do for a while, I should get the next chapter out within two weeks, unless something comes up which prevents that. I'm also doing another writing project however, so that's also going to be using up chunks of my time.

As always, if you liked (or disliked) the chapter, feel free to drop a review as you leave. If you didn't like (or dislike) the chapter, drop one anyway!


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